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Mike Atherton
Portrait of Mike Atherton

Michael Andrew Atherton

Born: 23 March 1968, Failsworth, Manchester, Lancashire
Major Teams: Cambridge University, Lancashire, England.
Known As: Mike Atherton
Pronounced: Mike Atherton
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Leg Break


Test Debut: England v Australia at Nottingham, 5th Test, 1989
Latest Test:
England v Australia at The Oval, 5th Test, 2001

ODI Debut:
England v India at Leeds, Texaco Trophy, 1990
Latest ODI:
England v Sri Lanka at Lord's, Emirates Triangular Tournament, 1998

First-Class Debut:
1987

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1991

Career Statistics:

TESTS
 (including 23/08/2001)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  115  212   7  7728  185*  37.69  37.31  16  46   83   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling              68     12   302    2 151.00  1-20    0   0 204.0  4.44

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
 (including 20/08/1998)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding   54   54   3  1791  127   35.11  58.64   2  12   15   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling               -      -     -    -    -     -      -   -    -    -

FIRST-CLASS
 (1987 - 2001)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  336  584  47 21929  268*  40.83  54 107  268   0

                      O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
Bowling            1496.5  288  4733  108  43.82  6-78    3   0  83.1  3.16

LIST A LIMITED OVERS
 (1987 - 2001)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding  287  279  23  9343  127   36.49  14  59  111   0

                      O       R    W    Ave   BBI   4w  5w    SR  Econ
Bowling             135.2   711   24  29.62  4-42    1   0  33.8  5.25

- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.


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A product of Manchester Grammar School, where he was captain for three years, Mike Atherton's potential was spotted early and he captained England Under-19 aged just 16. He toured with England Young Cricketers to Sri Lanka in 1986-87, and to Australia in 1987-88, while studying at Cambridge (earning a 2/1 in History) and winning a blue in 1987, 1988 and 1989. In his first game for Cambridge University he made 73 not out, from a total of 135 against an Essex side led by the then England captain, Graham Gooch. 109* out of 185 against Derby followed, and it was no surprise when he made his Lancashire debut in 1987, aged just 19, and became the first player to hit 1000 runs in debut season since Paul Parker in 1976. Unusually, he captained Cambridge for two years, and led the Combined Universities to a quarter-final place in the Benson and Hedges Cup in the year he also won his county cap, 1989.

Atherton was born in Manchester in March 1968, and has retained a Lancashire burr throughout his career. Six feet tall and right-handed, he made his Test debut against Australia at Old Trafford aged 21 in 1989. He began with a duck but made the top score of 47 in the second innings as England were beaten by an innings. He did enough to earn a winter tour with England A to Zimbabwe, and his first Test century came in just his third Test, the first of the following summer (1990) against New Zealand (151 at Trent Bridge), to make him the youngest-ever Lancastrian centurion. Another, against India (138) later in the summer at Old Trafford, established him as a member of the Test side and made him just the second Lancastrian to hit a Test century at Old Trafford. He won The Cricket Writers' Young Cricketer of the Year Award at the end of the 1990 season and was made a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in early 1991. A slightly disappointing tour of Australia followed (1990-91), although a century at Sydney followed by 87 at Adelaide were bright points. He struggled against the West Indies the following summer (1991), averaging under 10, and although he was selected for the England tour to New Zealand and the A tour to Bermuda and the West Indies, an operation on his back injury subsequently ruled him out.

Atherton's Test comeback was against Pakistan, and two half-centuries ensured his inclusion on the trip to India. He was overlooked for all but the final Test in India however, and ignored for the one-day games too, though he did play in Sri Lanka. Innings of 80 and 99 (run out) at Lord's in the second Ashes Test next summer (1993), followed by 55 and 63 at Leeds in the Fourth Test as England were outplayed by Australia, were enough to convince the selectors that he was the man to take over from Graham Gooch, who resigned as England captain after the Leeds Test. Atherton was just 25 years old. The promotion seemed instantly to improve his batting, and although another defeat followed at Edgbaston, a dramatic win in the final Test at The Oval restored some credibility and ended the summer on a happy note.

Taking a young side to the West Indies, Atherton showed bravery at the crease and fortitude as captain. In the end the trip could only be judged as a heroic failure as England succumbed 3-1. He led from the front though, typically when scoring 144 in the first innings in Georgetown, as his team subsided around him to lose the game by an innings. Worse was to come in Trinidad; England earned a victory target of 194 only to be swept aside by a rampant Ambrose for 46. The sense of shock and anti-climax was palpable, but Atherton re-grouped his men and led them to what was only the second-ever Test victory over the West Indies in Barbados, where his opening partnership of 171 with Alec Stewart (who hit centuries in both innings) reset the desired tone after the debacle of Trinidad.

A century in the final Test of the series and another two in the first and third Tests of the next summer, against New Zealand, seemed to herald a golden spell, but all that was endangered by an episode at Lord's in a Test against South Africa. Television cameras caught the young England captain rubbing dirt from his pocket on to the ball, and amid allegations of ball-tampering he was fined £2000 by the match referee, Peter Burge. Atherton claimed that it was to aid grip on a warm day, which is not, strictly speaking, against the rules, but he was fined £1000 for that and the other £1000 for providing a less than full explanation when originally questioned by Burge.

Amid widespread calls for his resignation or dismissal (one of them, bizarrely, from the Chairman of the Headmaster's Conference) Atherton stuck to his guns, scored 99 in the next Test (at Leeds) and oversaw a series-levelling victory at The Oval (as Devon Malcolm took 9-57), though he was also fined for showing dissent after his first innings, first ball dismissal. A mistrust of the media ensued, earning Atherton the sobriquet 'Captain Grumpy' for his reserved performances at subsequent press conferences. He won the Cornhill Player of the Year award in 1994.

Leading the side on the Ashes tour of 1994-95, Atherton's team were simply outplayed in all but the Adelaide Test (he had formed a formidable opening partnership with Gooch who retired after that tour; sharing 16 stands over 50 in 34 innings with 9 past 100 and three over 200), but performed well to draw the subsequent home series with the West Indies where he scored another century at Trent Bridge, something of a happy hunting ground for him.

An epic, back-to-the-wall, 643 minute, 185* v SA at Johannesburg (1995-96) (the fourth longest Test innings ever at the time) was perhaps his defining innings. Battling for a team facing defeat, against a hostile attack including Donald and Pollock, he defied everything thrown at him to save the Test. Ray Illingworth referred to the innings as one of the best ever and Atherton was by now viewed as one of the most obdurate and valuable batsmen in the world, and certainly the key wicket for any opposition as he scored more than 1,000 Test runs during 1995. However a sloppy day's cricket in the final Test sentenced his team to another narrow series loss, and an ever-widening split between captain and manager, Ray Illingworth became apparent. The age difference was certainly a factor, but a difference in culture and outlook was equally relevant as the pair saw little common ground and formed an increasingly unhappy working relationship. The performance in the 1996 World Cup was an embarrassment as the team looked poorly prepared and tactically bankrupt.

With David Lloyd taking over as coach for the Indian tour of 1996, and David Graveney as Chairman of Selectors at the end of that summer, a happier environment was created, and England won the series against India (with Atherton hitting another century - 160 at Trent Bridge) before losing to Pakistan.

Failure to win in Zimbabwe was magnified by the emotional nature of the new coach's pronouncements to the media, but a 2-0 series victory in New Zealand was fair consolation. In the third Test at Christchurch Atherton carried his bat for 94 as England barely managed to keep in contention, before his second innings 118 saw his side to a four-wicket win. By now his performance was the prerequisite of a respectable total; if he failed it was rare that England set a competitive score. The burden must have been immense but the Lancastrian never buckled and did all that could have been asked of him. Remarkable powers of concentration, perhaps born of a stubborn streak, allied to a good technique (when fit and in form) against all types of bowling were the bedrock of his consistency. He possessed all the shots, the fallibility of the English batting during his career convinced him of the need to limit his strokeplay, and it is as a defensive player that he will be remembered.

Atherton's period of captaincy was marked by the occasional remarkable victory, about once every series, but no sustained improvement. Typically, England began the 1997 Ashes series with a victory over a very strong Australia with Atherton undefeated on 57 at the moment of victory. The tourists hit back with a vengeance though, and England lost three Tests in a row before another remarkable win against the odds at The Oval. Atherton's own form disintegrated under the assault of Glenn McGrath in particular, and there was little improvement in the West Indies. He was awarded a benefit and an OBE in 1997, but at the end of the season he offended many by commenting that county cricket "served no purpose." His comments did highlight the need for a restructuring of the domestic game.

Atherton was rarely secure in the one-day international side despite a wonderful innings of 127 against the West Indies (Lord's 1995), and the selectors finally made the decision to appoint separate captains for the Tests and one-day internationals. Although he took the decision graciously, there was a feeling that his Test position was undermined by his exclusion from the one-day side. It was a strange time to make a change; England had just beaten Australia 3-0 and Atherton scored 113* in the second game. Adam Hollioake was the first to take over the one-day team, and a place was rarely found for Atherton thereafter. He only played in one more one-day international; perhaps the victim of a desire for "pinch-hitting" and one-day "bits and pieces" specialists. In that final game he put on 132 with Nick Knight, a record against Sri Lanka for the opening wicket.

A degenerative back condition (inherited from his father whose professional football career was prematurely ended by it) scuppered a promising leg-spin bowling career. It is often forgotten that Atherton took over 100 first-class wickets with a best of 6-78 (against Nottinghamshire in 1990). As it became clear that his cricket career would be ended prematurely by the injury, he took increasingly to writing about the game.

Many of the factors that helped Nasser Hussain to rebuild England had been set in motion, or suggested, by Atherton. Central contracts, pitches designed to suit the England team make-up and the stubborn refusal to give in were all traits of the Atherton reign, but whether he was a victim of his time or of his own tactical and personal inflexibility, it is hard to say. His resignation as captain after England lost another hard-fought series in the West Indies 3-1 produced an emotional response from a team that felt they had let him down. He had overtaken Peter May's record of captaining England in the most Tests, and led them in 54 matches altogether.

Back in the ranks, Atherton returned to form dramatically against the excellent South African attack in the English summer of 1998, beginning with 103 at Edgbaston. It was his effort at Trent Bridge, though, that will be remembered for ever by all those who witnessed it. Facing Allan Donald at his fastest and best, Atherton withstood a fearful barrage to take England to a series-equalling victory with 98*. An appeal for caught behind that the batsman may well have been lucky to survive spurred Donald to new levels of hostility, and produced as gripping an encounter as could ever be wished for. England eventually achieved a rare series win, and Atherton finished with an average of over 50.

Hindered by his back problem (and Glenn McGrath) Atherton struggled in Australia on the subsequent Ashes tour, and was forced to miss the final Test after a pair in Melbourne and a run of 62 consecutive Tests. The injury also ruled him out of the 1999 World Cup squad, and the first two Tests against New Zealand that year. He did manage to hit his highest first-class score during the summer though, 268* against Glamorgan at Blackpool to win back his Test place. Returning to South Africa, he recorded a pair in the first Test as England were beaten by an innings, before returning to form with a century in the second.

Atherton won an England central contract for 2000 (Band A), and having hit a century in the two Test series against Zimbabwe, made his 100th Test appearance against the West Indies at Old Trafford in 2000, in the same game as Alec Stewart, whom his career ran alongside. In a series played on green pitches, bowlers dominated but Atherton's century in the final Test at The Oval was instrumental in his side winning the game and taking their first home series against the West Indies since 1969.

Atherton performed reliably throughout the tour of Pakistan, batting for almost 10 hours for a match-winning 125 in Karachi as England pulled off a remarkable Test and series win for the first time since 1961-2. After a short break for Christmas, England returned to the sub-continent and their first full tour of Sri Lanka. Atherton was somewhat subdued with the bat in Sri Lanka, where Chaminda Vaas caused him problems, but contributed several important opening stands with Marcus Trescothick, his 13th opening partner for England. England completed their fourth consecutive series win with a comeback from 1-0 down to win the final two Tests; the first time they had managed such a feat since 1888. Atherton was rewarded with another central contract for 2001.

The summer proved to be one of Atherton's less successful. He managed one half-century in the drawn two-match series against Pakistan and then encountered his bete noir, Glenn McGrath, with the visit of Australia. His old adversary captured his wicket six times as Atherton managed just two half-centuries in the five match series, which England lost 4-1. He totalled just 221 runs in ten innings during England's uphill struggle. Atherton took over the captaincy for the second and third Tests because of injury to skipper Nasser Hussain, but was on the losing side on both occasions.

Shortly after the final game at The Oval, Atherton announced his retirement from first-class cricket. His long-time England teammate Alec Stewart was among the first to pay tribute, describing him in his CricInfo diary as "a great player for England over the years". Stewart also praised Atherton for his courage in coping with his back problem, which prevented him from seeing out the season with Lancashire. "Many people with such a condition would have packed up playing long ago," Stewart wrote. Shortly after the end of the season, Channel 4 Television hired Atherton as a summeriser for home Test matches. (Copyright CricInfo September 2001)


Photo: Clive Mason/ALLSPORT

* Last Updated: Wednesday, 04-Sep-2002 09:07:46 GMT


 
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